The World of Letters

“Absurd Drama”, not a regular “movement”. The phrase “Absurd Drama” or “The Theatre of the Absurd” gained currency as a result of Martin Esslin’s book entitled The Theatre of the Absurd published in 1961. Esslin points out that there is no such thing as a regular “movement” of Absurd dramatists; the term is useful as “a device to make certain fundamental traits which seem to be present in the works of a number of dramatists accessible to discussion by tracing features they have in common”. Esselin’s book deals with a group of plays which incorporate certain beliefs and use certain methods and which, briefly and as a kind of intellectual short-hand, we call Absurd Drama. Successful in spite of the violation of all dramatic conventions. The most surprising thing about plays of this group is that in spite of their breaking of the rules they are successful. Esslin says: 1. “If a good play must have a cleverly constructed story, these have no story or plot to speak of; 2. If a good play is ...

SEXUAL PERVERSION DEPICTED IN ELIOT’S “THE WASTE LAND” by Darman Sitepu Fakultas Sastra Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara Abstrak Hubungan sex merupakan kegiatan sakral yang dilakukan dengan penuh kasih sayang oleh pasangan suami istri untuk melanjutkan keturunan. Namun pada The Waste Land karya T.S.Eliot, sex telah berubah fungsi. Sex digunakan sebagai alat pemuas birahi, obat menghilangkan stress dan bahkan diperdagangkan sebagai barang komersial untuk memperoleh keuntungan materi. Penyimpangan sex tersebut menyebabkan kemandulan peradaban modern. Eliot menyerukan pembersihan spiritual sebagai solusi masalah tersebut. Namun masyarakat modern tak terketuk hatinya karena terbius oleh kenikmatan duniawi semata. Keywords: sexual perversion, moral values, guilty love, sex exploitation INTRODUCTION According to Eliot, sex is an important aspect of life. It is an expression of love and a means of procreation. But in modern society, sex has been perverted from its proper function and is util...

The Literal Meaning of the Phrase “Heart of Darkness” The phrase “Heart of Darkness” has two meanings: one is the literal meaning, and the other is the symbolic meaning. Literally, the title refers to the dark continent of Africa, especially the territory known as the Congo. Actually it was the famous explorer and writer, Henry Morton Stanley who, having traveled through Africa, gave the name of “the dark continent” to it; but thereafter this phrase became current and began to be widely used to Africa. The phrase “Heart of Darkness” means inmost region of the territory which was, in those days, still led primitive lives. Today every bit of the continent of Africa is known to everybody who has studied geography. Every bit of Africa has been fully explored and indicated on the geographical maps. But at the time Stanley went into Africa and thereafter, even when Conrad went thither in 1890, the continent of Africa had not been fully explored. Of course, there was a big difference between ...